CBNS ch.16

Last time we saw our brave heroes, two of them were ready to face the robotic threat; while the other two were preparing to fight against the evil head of the toxic factory.

“Say good night!” he exclaimed and began to shoot at them. Spyro-in a cool way- and Crash-in a comical way-dodged the bullets and hid behind the office furniture.

“Hahaha!” laughed Pinstripe loudly while shooting. Taking the advantage of the momentum, the young dragon got up and threw some fireballs at him. However, the human Potoroo quickly kicked his desk and hid behind it, avoiding Spyro’s attack.

“You’ll need more than that!” he exclaimed and jumped on his desk. Then, he continued the shooting. Again, the young dragon was forced to duck behind the furniture.

“What’s the plan?!” asked Crash scared behind a furniture near of Spyro.

“Don’t get shot” he simply replied and tried to attack him again with his fireballs. His statement, obviously, didn’t calm the human bandicoot at all. In fact, it only worry him more as he both sweatdropped and gulped scared.

Many floors below, we see Coco and Aku Aku in front of an elevator. The two were staring at it with serious looks.

“Are you sure it was a good idea to send those two alone?” asked her the flying mask, slightly worried about them.

“I know Crash can be a hardheaded sometimes, but he’ll befriend with Spyro soon. He just needs some time” she replied with a smile that suddenly faded as she gaze a corridor to her left.

“What worries me is that Klonoa and the others haven’t come yet” she stated.

“It’s true. I wonder what’s keeping them busy” answered Aku Aku worried while Coco was remembering everything that happened before Crash and Spyro left.

Flashback

In the memory, we see the whole group in front of the elevator

Coco: You say he’s at the top?

Spyro: Yes, that guy’s office is on the last floor. If you want to get to that dark castle behind the factory, you’ll need a golden key that he has in his power (key reference: crash bandicoot 1, Cortex bonus levels)

Aku Aku: How can you be so sure of that?

Spyro: When I asked him about it, he mentioned that it was out of my limits; and that if I wanted to go there I needed his key to open the doors of the front wall…Now that he can’t blackmail me, I would like to see if I can find that clock man in that castle

Coco: Neither Crash nor I remember seeing a guy like that the night Cortex turned us into humans, but we might get some clues about his whereabouts

Spyro-and Sparx- (nodding with a smile): We appreciate your help

Aku Aku: The problem will be taking that key from Pinstripe. I’m sure he will not give it us that easy

Coco: Don’t worry about it! Crash and Spyro can take care of that

Crash (shocked): What?! Please tell me that was a bad joke (begged comically with teary eyes)

Coco (stern): Crash, we have to help Spyro as well. It’s not fair that we only get to help Croc and Klonoa with their problems

Knowing that his sister was right, Crash only shot an angry look towards Spyro, who wasn’t paying attention to him; and after reconsidering a bit, he came with his answer

Crash: Fine! But only because you asked me to

Spyro (sarcastically with a little smile): I say the same

Coco (blushed): …

Crash (comically angry): And stay away from my sister!

Aku Aku: I also hope the others are ok, I’m afraid they might get lost in this place

Spyro: You’re worrying too much. If Klonoa knew the route for you to arrive here, surely he’ll guide your friends through the alternative path and then come from that corridor (and pointed out the left corridor)

End of the flashback

Feeling the need of being useful for her brother and friend, the female bandicoot decided to take the matter on her hands.

“Let’s go Aku Aku, we’re going to look for them” she told him seriously and began to run to that corridor.

“What? Coco wait!” exclaimed the witch doctor and quickly followed her.

While this was happening, back to the dark and creepy town that was the skeleton’s knight dream, we see Abe quickly hiding behind a large stone in order to avoid some dark projectiles that were shot against him.

“It is futile…” said the old man as his taller companion extended his arms in the air to perform somekind of magic. At that moment, from the stone, emerged two long black arms that almost capture the human Mudokon.

“It’s useless” he thought worried. “As long as they control this space as they please, I will not be able to save him” he stated while seeing the unconscious skeleton knight at the end of the dirt road, where the gigantic version of the old man was waiting.

Again, the man with the bird mask did not waste anytime in performing his dark magic once more. This time, he created shadow versions of himself that emerged from the floor and quickly surrounded Abe.

The human Mudokon backed away uneasy, but not too much as the shadows were closing in. This time he was done for, there was no way he could fight against those shadows by himself, unless…someone else could do it for him…

“I don’t have other choice" he whispered serious as a flock of birds appeared out of nowhere and began to fly around him. "I'll pound you all" and the birds entered in his body, creating a bright electrical current that disintegrated all the shadows and blinded the taller man.

When he managed to look forward, he saw Abe running towards him. Obviously he wasn’t going after him, but after the skeleton knight behind him, so he tried to stop Abe with his powers over the knight’s dreams. However, he didn’t have the chance to cast a spell, as the human Mudokon made some of his birds pecked at him, preventing him from casting another obstacle in his way.

“No!” yelled the old man as he tried to crush the brown haired man with his big hands, but the human Mudokon was really sneaky and fast. With his top audacity, and long jumps, he dodged every attempt of the old man to stop him, finally reaching the skeleton knight.

“Awake now my friend!” he exclaimed while extending his right arm to touch the skeleton’s armor. Then, using his inner powers, he forced the knight to wake up from this nightmare. The moment he opened his right eye, everything was covered in a white light that wiped out the scary place, along with the figures of the old man and the taller one.

After that little rescue mission, both Abe and the skeleton knight returned to the cave where they previously were. Slowly, the two began to get used to the reality.

“That sure took longer than I thought” said the human Mudokon a little dizzy while holding his head. At that moment, the skeleton knight approached him and kneeled before him.

“You have my gratitude, odd warrior” mumbled the knight due to the loss of his jaw. “On my way to face the evil wizard Zarok, I was caught by that evil entity that helped him controlled me through my dreams”.

“No need to worry my friend, you’re now out of their reach”, explained him Abe with a smile.

“And for that I, Sir Daniel Fortesque! The hero of Gallowmere! Will be completely at your services!” he promised him with a very heroic and chivalry tone, though in him it looked anything but serious and convincing.

“Ummm…thanks” replied the human Mudokon unsure. Afterall, it was the first time someone offered to be his loyal servant. Suddenly a sharp pain struck his head and he was forced to crouch. The skeleton knight quickly got into his fighting stance.

“Show yourselves evil wrongdoers! And fight!” yelled Dan while looking for the cause of his friend pain.

“No, no. It’s ok Dan, it was just a premonition” reassured him Abe as he slowly stood up.

“Premonition?” asked the skeleton knight confused.

“Yeah, they’re images from the future that come to my head from nowhere. However, this one showed me a good sign. Come! We have to hurry, our friends have finally gathered” and the two quickly made their way, deeper into the cave. Not noticing that the shadows from before watched everything that happened.

“I thought you said he was just a simpleton, yet he managed to save that goofy knight from our control” said one of the shadows with a very old female’s voice. Besides her, there was a large shadow with a long beard and both arms crossed. Apparently, he agreed with her.

“I spoke the truth, it’s not my fault that he comes from that very rare specie” replied the shadow that previously mocked of Abe. Besides him, there was a larger shadow with mechanical features and sharp fangs that agreed with him.

“Relax, my dear fellows” said N. Tropy in order to calm them. “It’s obvious we put a lot of pressure on Ghadius and Zarok by making them control the mind of the knight this long” he stated, referring to the taller man with the bird mask and the old man with the red tunic, who were slowly recovering from all the effort they made to stop Abe while controlling Fortesque.

“I believe it’s time we find a really valuable substitute” said the evil clock man maliciously while looking at Mr. Dark many floors above. The man with the dark clothes nodded and went to the exit, followed quickly by another shadow that was besides him.
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Back to the factory, Coco and Aku Aku were still looking for their friends. The two walked a considerable distance of the left corridor and they still hadn’t met their friends.

“I’m beginning to worry now” said the female bandicoot a little scared.

“Agreed, there’s something that’s not right about this” answered the flying mask uneasy about the whole situation. Suddenly Coco’s eyes widened while looking forward.

“Croc! Klonoa!” she exclaimed worried the moment she saw the two unconscious on the floor, as well as some robotic parts scattered on it.

Hurriedly, both Coco and Aku Aku went to help their friends, not noticing that something on the ceiling was scanning them. However, it wasn’t any ordinary machine that was spying them, but a Lab Assistant carefully clinging to the ceiling. After determining that the female bandicoot was also a suitable candidate for N. Brio’s experiment, it dropped on the floor

“Coco, look out!” yelled the witch doctor. But when the female bandicoot turned it was too late, as the Lab Assistant applied a light electrical shock that left her unconscious.

Enraged by this cowardly attack, Aku Aku fired a blue laser from his mouth that blew half of the robotic assistant. Then, out of nowhere, two Lab Assistants appeared from behind the witch doctor and applied a stronger electrical shock that put him out of combat.

After a new scanning of the area, the Lab Assistants determined that they needed to keep their losses to the bare minimum. So, one of them grabbed Coco and turned to the others that had Tawna, Polar, Pura and Penta on their hands. It looked like they had also applied a light electrical shock to the four to knock them out. Once the area was secluded, they began their march back-towards the laboratory-all this in front of the eyes of a scared Stormy that quickly spread his wings in order to follow them.

While this happened, deep within the factory, both Crash and Spyro were still fighting against Pinstripe, who was literally unloading all his bullets on them.

“What’s wrong? Can’t fight? Hahahaha!” laughed the human Potoroo while shooting at a specific furniture where the youths were hiding.

“Dammit, how many ammo does this guy has?!” complained Spyro behind the red sofa.

"I knew Coco should have come! She would have come with a plan in no time!" cried Crash comically.

“Oh, quit whining already!” exclaimed the young dragon a little angry.

“Whining?! You’re the one whose plan is only dodge the bullets!” retorted the human bandicoot.

“At least I thought something! You’re not doing anything!”

“Well sorry for not being able to throw fire from my hands!” and the two began to argue like little kids while Sparx only looked at them embarrassed.

“Sorry guys! But arguing will not save you” stated Pinstripe as he walked towards them while shooting, when suddenly his tommy gun jammed.

“What?!” he asked angry.

“The shooting!” thought Crash with his eyes widened.

“It stopped!” thought Spyro also surprised.

“Come on baby, don’t do this to me now” said the factory head while trying to adjust his tommy gun. When the `clack’ song was heard, he knew that he could resume the shooting, but he delayed too much and Crash and Spyro managed to hurt him.

“Ugh!” gasped Pinstripe as he tripped and fell to the floor. Seeing this as another opportunity for a second attack, the young dragon tried to punch him again with his flame fist.

“I got you!” exclaimed Spyro as he lunged towards him.

“Wanna bet on that?” asked the mafia leader sarcastically as he pointed the human dragon with his tommy gun. Spyro’s eyes widened as he was now at Pinstripe’s mercy. Luckily for him, Crash quickly grabbed him and forced him to hide in another of the office’s furniture; just before the bullets could hit them.

“Pant…pant…pant…” panted the human bandicoot tired while the human dragon was looking at him surprised.

“You…saved me” he whispered astonished. Crash quickly looked away and crossed his arms.

“I did it because I don’t want my sister yell at me for letting you get hurt” he pouted like an angry little baby. Of course this wasn’t true at all, and Spyro knew it.

“Heh…thanks” he whispered with a little smile.

“What?” asked Crash, who didn’t listen to him.

“Nothing” replied Spyro serious. “I think I have a plan now, we just need that he keeps shooting like crazy and when his gun jams again, we’ll strike”.

“Got it!” nodded the human bandicoot seriously.

“Too bad I won’t let you do that!” exclaimed the joyful voice of Pinstripe very near of them. When the two looked up, they saw the human Potoroo over the furniture they were hiding. He pointed at them and shot, but the youths once again dodged the bullets by running to different directions.

The moment Crash and Spyro split, Pinstripe decided to follow the young dragon so that he couldn’t give him the chance to throw fireballs at him. Still, he knew that if he didn’t keep an eye on Crash, he could attack while being distract; so he just came with a foolproof plan: keep shooting at the human dragon.

Following his just made plan, the human potoroo continued shooting the young dragon only in order to prevent him from attacking. This surprised Spyro since he was expecting that Pinstripe kept at bay the two, not just one.

“Why is he attacking me and not Crash? Is he just trying to prevent that I use my fireballs or…Oh no!” he thought worried as Crash noticed that he had the perfect chance to attack the mafia leader while he was busy shooting at the furniture Spyro was hiding.

“Good, I’ll attack while he’s distracted!” and the human bandicoot quickly left his hideout and lunged towards the factory head, failing to notice that this was Pinstripe’s plan all along.

"Now...I got you!" exclaimed the human potoroo as he turned around to get a clear shot of the human bandicoot. However, before he could shoot at him, Spyro threw a fireball-that he managed to make in time again-against Pinstripe.

“Ough!” gasped the mafia leader in pain as the fireball hit his right arm; diverting the shooting towards the TV he used to spy everything on the islands.

“Why you!” he stated angry as he pointed his tommy gun towards Spyro. But before he could shoot, Crash punched him. Then the young dragon quickly followed with the next one, and then the human bandicoot with another one.

Soon the two youths attacked repeatedly Pinstripe so that he couldn’t shoot at them again. Punch after punch after punch, the youths forced the factory head to go backwards until he tripped with his desk and accidentally shot a machine behind a glass wall.

“Damn…” whispered the human potoroo sore on the floor while looking the mess he just made. “Now the boss will be pissed once he finds out that the power generator has been destroyed”. Then he looked to the left and saw his tommy gun just a few inches away from him. But when he tried to reach it, he was abruptly cut by Crash and Spyro, who stood in front of him with angry looks.

“Don’t ever think about it” threatened him the human dragon.

Seeing that there wasn’t any other chance for him to turn the table to his favor, Pinstripe smiled and slowly raised his both hands in defeat.

“Alright, you guys win. Take everything you want from the office” he told them in a very calmed and mannered way.

“The crystals, where are they?” asked Spyro.

“In the safe, the combination is 89-90-01-40” he answered. But the young dragon only looked at him with an angry expression and melted the safe with his flame hands so that he could take the power crystals.

“You bastard! That was a really expensive safe!” said Pinstripe comically angry.

“Consider it as payment for lying and blackmailing me. Now, where is that golden key?” he asked while glaring at him.

At first, the human potoroo didn’t catch what he was talking about. But after a couple of minutes, he knew what he was talking about; and so an evil smile crept in his lips.

“Sorry Spyro, but as I told you before: That castle is out of your limits” he remembered him.

“Will it help if I ask for it again?” he asked as he lighted his hands with fire.

“You two can hurt me all you want, but I won’t hand over the key that easy” replied Pinstripe with a deadly expression, letting them know that he was dead serious with his decision.

Knowing him for this long, Spyro knew that it was futile to hurt him; for he wasn’t going to say anything.

“Spyro?” asked Crash uneasy while seeing his friend thinking thoroughly his next move. He unlit his hands and inhale deeply.

“Fine, I’ll guess I’ll just have to look for it. Keep an eye on him Crash” he told him.

“O-ok!” he nodded slightly surprised as Spyro, who also nodded but serious, began to look in the office for the key, leaving the two experiments alone for a little chat.

“So, Crash…” began Pinstripe as he slowly sat on the floor. Once he was sit, he took his trusty cigarette box from his pockets and took one of them to smoke it. “You know you and your friends are causing a lot of troubles for us, right?” he asked him, referring to him and the other human experiments he defeated.

“That’s your fault! If you guys weren’t working for Cortex like his mindless slaves, I wouldn’t have to fight against you!” he retorted him. Spyro couldn’t help but to chuckle at how he addressed Pinstripe while looking on his desk, until he found something really particular.

“Hey, hey! Please don’t put me in the same group as Ripper Roo and Koala Kong. For your information, just like you managed to develop your own consciousness, I did as well” he explained him.

“Really? Because I don’t believe you at all” answered Crash still angry at him.

“Maybe you want to read this” said Spyro interrupting the conversation as he handed the human bandicoot a piece of paper. At first Crash was surprised; what could be so important that he needed to read this now? Without giving too much importance to that matter, he began to read it.

“Hey! Weren’t you guys looking for the key? Stop reading my documents!” scolded them Pinstripe at the very same time Crash finished reading the paper.

“N…no way…” he whispered devastated as he let the sheet fell near of the factory head’s feet.

“Please, it’s not like you haven’t see accounting for the first time” replied Pinstripe slightly surprised by the youths reaction as he also began to read the paper. The moment he read the very first lines, he was so astonished that he carelessly let his cigarette fell from his mouth.

Many floors below, a big metal door opened slowly and from the inside of the room, emerged four shadows.

“See? I told you we will find the exit in no time!” exclaimed Gex happily as he finally arrived to the toxic factory.

“Only because we were lucky enough to go through the right door” answered Rayman sweatdropping. Inside his hood, his rabbid bunny wiped a little of sweat from his forehead, since he was also scared of not finding the exit in that dark place.

“Yeah! Finally out!” exclaimed Parappa joyful with both arms in the air.

“And were finally in the main area of the toxic factory” stated the blond as he and his two traveler friends were looking through all the facility.

“Hey!” called them Hog. “Look there!” he told his friends as he pointed out the unconscious bodies of Klonoa, Croc and Aku Aku.


And so Abe's premonition was most successful, all the travelers have finally gathered But what had that piece of paper which surprised Crash and Pinstripe too much? Will that change the mind of the human potoroo? And what about the conspirators and this "new substitute" they're looking? Find it out in the next episode
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